This will be my 1st summertime fishing in the park and I was wondering once June, July, and August get rolling what will happen to the areas I have been fishing this Spring?

For instance I fished the Road Prong the last day of May and started fishing at the 2nd bridge. If I go back the last day of June would the water temp have increaed enough that the best fishing would be above the 3rd bridge or would it be above the 4th. Or will the steams stay cold enough you can start at the same point ,but the most active areas would be higher up.

It may not matter but I thought I should ask.

ijsouth

06-03-2008, 09:46 PM

It should be fine, even way further down the mountain on the WPLPR...that stream in particular usually runs cold. The only time I've seen water temps that were probably in the danger zone for trout was last August, at the peak of the drought, and fairly far down on the WPLPR. We fished Road Prong a few times, and it was cool the whole time. If the mountains have a "normal" Summer, with plenty of scattered showers, the streams will be fine. Some of the low-elevation areas, such as Middle Prong below the gravel, might not fish well, at least for trout.

Brook Fan

06-04-2008, 09:32 PM

Thanks for the info.

I was hoping it would pretty much stay the same.

ijsouth

06-04-2008, 10:10 PM

I only checked the temp on Cosby last weekend...it was around 59F - right in their wheelhouse. Last August, it was 68F around the nature trail area, and a little cooler higher up...but, that's the absolute worst case scenario. Some streams handle the heat better than others...for example, another one of our favorites is Straight Fork, and it never got much above 63F last year. On the other hand, the lower stretches of Middle Prong (Tremont) were at 68F already last June - the lower elevations really suffered last year, and that's where most of the mortality of the adult rainbows occurred.

Bottom line - the mid to high elevation streams will be fine...and even the lower areas that are marginal for trout will be ok if there's plenty of rain.